Supremacy
by NeoQuantic
Summary: A relative calm has spread over the galaxy as the flames of war finally blow out. Humans stand at the top of the mountain, reaping the benefits of victors. However, peace is a luxury that is often taken for granted.
1. Chapter 1

Commander John Harper slowly walked down a busy hallway, contemplating on how well his crew had performed during the war. A long and bloody struggle had recently come to an end, with all sides left licking their wounds and counting their dead. Long before humans had entered this part of the galaxy, A clash of titans had occurred. Two major alliances had ignited a war that lasted a generation. The Rockman, Engi, and Zoltan races formed a defensive pact against more aggressive races like the Mantis, Slugs, and Lanius. However this backfired, making an alliance between the aggressors covenant. These alliance led to an arm race, cold war, and eventually exploded into a slaughter this part of the galaxy had never witnessed. The war was clearly going in the Mantis, Slugs, and Lanius favor, but the Rockman, Engi, and Zoltan held on. With the war taking longer than anticipated, alliances began to break down. Planet wide genocides began to take place. Infighting became rampant as the races began to think selfishly. As the war grew long, it was clear every race was fighting for themselves.

Humans sat at the edge of it all, blissfully unaware of the chaos going on just a few jumps away from their outlining quickly changed once the warring factions found them out. The first strike was devastating, led by the Mantis. 13 planets were completely wiped out, and dozen of others were victims of constant raids.

Humans didn't back down however, war had always been linchpin of their history. Survivors from the outposts made it back to their homeworlds and prepared for war. Their ships armed to the teeth and with confident commanders, the humans pushed the Matius forces back. Unaware of the lions den they were jumping into, the Humans gave chase. They suddenly found themselves in the middle of a 6 way war.

This is where Harper earned his stripes. Commanding a capital class carrier, named _The Ultima,_ his ship and his crew fought tooth and nail across the war torn 6 battered races could not stand up to the fresh humans, and one by one they surrendered. With the Rockmen being the last to finally submit, the humans found themselves king of this little sector of the galaxy.

Harper reached the the command station in the belly of his ship.

"Commander on deck!" Words Harper had heard countless times before. He looked around at his officers, all standing at attention.

"At ease." Harper said. "XO, report."

"The scouting party heading toward the forward beacon is overdue, but we got word that a Kestrel Cruiser broke down. There lending assistance." Harpers second in command and best friend Herschel Watts answered.

"All right. send in _The Arkcedia_ and another Razor squadron." Harper said. "Don't want our guys getting caught with their pants down."

"You got it sir," Watts said. "Sanders, give the order." Thomas Sanders quickly contacted _The Arkcedia_ and launched a squadron of fighters, all ships quickly lit up their FTL drives and jumped away.

The war might of been over, but this part of space was still completely uncharted and dangerous. Random bits of fighting from die-hard's was becoming very taxing and spreading the humans thin. They were receiving little help, even though they were working with the governments, or what was left of them, of the other 6 races The high command of The humans saw this as a perfect opportunity. With the other races relatively weak, the timing was right to try and form some sort of larger alliance that would prevent this kind of war from happening was proving to be a huge undertaking. Putting aside the language barrier and the fact that humans weren't from this part of space, all of these races just spent the last 30 years killing each other. Any kind of alliance was going to have to be forged very carefully.

"Sir were getting an order from high command." Sanders said. "We got a Mantis capital ship and a small Engi fleet engaged close to a Federation space station. Our orders are to jump in and defend the outpost. Only engage if fired upon." Sanders grumbled the last sentence. Harper could understand. Sanders was one of the few who made it out of the original 13 planets. He had no love for anything that wasn't human.

"Understood. Put the ship at combat stations and recall all fighters at the beacon. Relay the orders to the rest of the fleet and prepare to jump." The fleet followed his orders and in time, all ships jumped.

A fierce battle greeted The Human ships as they reached their destination. 2 Engi ships were floating aimlessly in space and another one was in several pieces. Drones were picking away at the large Mantis ship but the shields weren't cracking. The Mantis weapons had no such problems. Large laser cannons ripped apart another Engi ship as the humans got their bearings. The Mantis clearly had the upper hand.

The human fleet took up a defensive position around the station, shields up and weapons loaded. _The Ultima's_ first wave of fighters had already been launched, and the second wave was loaded into the tubes. The station would not fall today.

The Mantis payed no attention to the reinforcing humans. They continued to pound away at the surviving Engi ships, and desperately the Engi ships began to crawl towards the humans, hoping they would be their salvation.

"Attention Mantis and Engi forces. You are engaged in actions that directly threaten human lives. Ceasefire immediately and leave this section of space or you will be fired upon." Harper said over coms. His words fell upon deaf ears however; even if they spoke english the Mantis were in a frenzy and the Engi were desperate. A fight was unavoidable.

A stray shot from the Mantis battle ship hit a Kestrel, _The Angle-Light,_ and the human ships sprang into action. _The Ultima_ immediately launched it second fighter group in a protective formation to escort the injured Kestral out of harms way.

"All ships, you are free to engage." Harper ordered. "Give fighter group 1 free engage of the Mantis battleship."

"About fucking time." Amiran Farah, _The Ultima's_ top Razor pilot complained over coms. "1st squadron your target is on the shields, 3rd squadron you got weapons, the rest of you protect the Kestrels from any fighters lurking out there, and for god sakes stay the fuck out anybodys firing cone." The fleet went to work. Being alone, the Mantis battleship had no fighter cover as the Razor pilots went to work. Scores of missiles breached the enemy's hull as the main shield battery was ripped to shreds. With the shields down, The Kestrel's heavy laser fire took down the remaining weapons. It was over quickly. The first volley left the Mantis battleship crippled.

"The Mantis ship is dead in the water." Sanders reported. "Should we finish it off?"

"Do it. Then contact the surviving Engi." Harper said. "Need to know what they got attacked for."

A final volley exploded the Mantis war ship and _The Ultima's_ fighters began coming home. At the same time, the functioning Engi ships rushed to save any survivors of their fleet. "Attention Humans. Assistance is required. Survivors confirmed on non-functional ships." A robotic voice sounded over coms.

"Why were the Mantis attacking you?" Harper said. "Wars over. Nothing to fight over anymore."

"Engi engaged Mantis warship. Mantis threat to Engi survival. Mantis must be destroyed." The Engi captain answered.

Harper wasn't shocked. the Mantis and Engi always had a particular hatred for each other. The last major battles before Human intervention between Engi and Mantis forces were brutal. Over 30 Mantis ships were destroyed after a genocidal rampage throughout mostly Engi civilian planets. Despite their robotic appearance, it was clear that these Engi were emotionally charged.

"The Mantis are no longer a threat. The galaxy isn't at war anymore. Harper said. "Power down your weapons."

"Sir we have FTL registers. Several ships just jumped in. They've locked weapons." Sanders said. Only half of _The Ultima's_ fighters were still in combat positions. The three Kestrals and the station were suddenly very exposed.


	2. Chapter 2

"Incoming Ion fire!" Sanders said. Static sounds flooded the ship as the shields were temporarily disabled. Another volley was able to hit again before the shields came back online.

"Concentrate the shields to the areas that are going to be hit by the ion cannons." Harper ordered. Ion weapons were dangerous, especially to captains and crews who didn't know how to deal with them. Concentrating the ship's shields over one small area seems to be the only way to stop it, at least temporarily.

"Wave of drones inbound, I count at least 100." Sanders warned.

"Get our fighters back in the air and fire the flak cannons at those drones. Order the Kestrels forward to put pressure on the enemy carriers." Watts commanded. Outside, _The Ultima's_ guns spun up. Firing over and over, they put up a wall of explosive death between them and the drones.

But some drones were able to get though, and with the shields being concentrated, they were able to punch though. The thick armor of _The Ultima_ was able to prevent any piercing, but the drones were still taking their toil.

Amiran Farah came screaming in over coms. "You got drones all over you Ultima, permission to go under the flak line and destroy them."

"Laser arms only. Go clean them up." Harper said. At once the Razors dived in close to _The Ultima's_ hul after the drones.

Amiran Farah laughed. "All right boys and girls, looks like your all in for a treat. You get yourself killed this way you'll have your very own memorial stamped right on the ship. Stay with your wingman and pay attention." Farah was no fool. Fighting this close to a capital ship was playing with death. Not only is there the enemy to think about, but also the ship.

Farah got under the flak line and flew straight at the enemy drones, his pilot's right behind him. At once the drones stopped pecking at _The Ultima_ and roes up, keeping sure the be lower than the flak fire, to meet them. Laser fire burst from both sides as they quickly charged at each other. Several Razors were hit and burnt up instantly, same with the drones. Farah quickly set his sights on one in particular and took aim. The drone did the same, but Farah was too quick for it. Before the drone could react it was shot down in a fiery exposition. As the two sides flung past each other, they scrambled to turn and shoot before the enemy could do the same. To the unaware, it looked like a beautifully choreographed dance.

Farah and the Razors looked like they had the upper hand. The drones and humans were roughly equal in number before the first strikes and as Farah pulled his ship around, the drones were out-numbered. Souring this though, however, Farah realized more drones were still getting through the flak wall. The Razors would need reinforcements.

"Ultima where the hell are our reinforcements?" Farah yelled over coms.

"He has a point." Harper said. "Where are my fighters?"

'We got deck crews reporting malfunctions with the launch tube doors." Andera Raylin, the ship's damage control officer answered. "They must of been hit by Ion fire. Our fighters can't get out."

"Our number one priority is getting those doors open." Harper said. "Pull the ship away from the enemy carriers. Gotta get away from these drones. Farah you're on your own for now. Hold the line as best you can."

Farah knew they wouldn't last long against this many drones. Not alone. Thinking quickly, he pulled his ship out of the fight and flew under the flak wall towards the launch tubes. Sure enough, they were only partially open. No way a Razor could fit though.

"Ultima I need you to lower the launch tube shields." Farah said. "I'm gonna destroy the doors and wake up the wasp nest."

"He's gonna shoot the ship?" Watts asked, unconvinced the plan would work. "If he shoots and it doesn't work there's no way we can clear it."

"Not much of a choice here sir, were getting chewed up out here." Farah said. One by one more and more friendly markings on his radar were disappearing.

"He's right. Gotta get these drones off us." Harper said. "Lower the shield, Farah make it quick."

As soon as the shield lowered Farah went to work. Quickly and skillfully, the half opened doors shattered like glass and spewd into open space. "Jobs done, now get us into the air." Farah twisted his Razor back around to rejoin the fight.

"Tubes are green. Fighters are now launching." Sanders reported. With the reinforcements the Razors got the upper hand on the drones. It was only a matter of time now.

Realizing their defeat was inevitable, the drones began suiciding into _The Ultima's_ hull. Most just harmlessly exploded into the shields, however some were able to get through to the hull. Already weakened from earlier attacks, the armor succumbed to the bombardment. With a buckle fire shot out of the top of _The Ultima._

"Hull breach confirmed at deck's A and B. Sections 3-4 and 4-5 respectively." Raylin called out. "Fires also reported on C deck, sections 3-9."

"Seal off A and B deck and vent out C deck immediately." Watts ordered.

Raylin hesitated. "Sir there still evacuating. Give them a litt-"  
"Ammunition for our flak guns are stored on that deck." Watt said angrily. "We let the fire light it up and we loose the ship. Do it. Now"

Reluctantly, Raylin complies. With a few keystrokes she vents the deck into space. Outside, bodies are flung out into the icy grip of space. "Its done." She said somberly.

"If they were smart and remembered their training they got to a survival cabinet as soon as they realized there was a fire." Watt said, rough but comfortingly.

"You didn't exactly leave them with alot of time." Raylin said. Watt silently turned back to the middle of the control room.

With the Kestrels finally getting into weapon range and the Engi carriers all out of drones, the Engi had no choice but to cut and run, but not before the Kestrels were able to destroy one of the carriers. The Humans were victorious.

'Regroup the fleet. Send out Mules to pick up any survivors out there." Harper said. "Casualty report. Any major damage?"

"The fire on C deck is under control. Lost about 100 people." Raylin said. "decompression is sealed on decks A and B."

"Dispatch repair teams. Sanders anything moving out there? How many Razors did we lose?" Harper said.

"No enemies on sensors. And early estimates of losses are about 25 Razors completely destroyed and another 31 damaged." Sanders said.

"This could of been alot worse people. Remember that. You did good." Harper said. 'Sanders give me coms on the station. See if they need any assistance."

"Hello? this is the Ultima correct?" A scared voice came in over coms.

"Yes. This is Commander Harper. Do you require any assistance?" Harper answered.

"I have orders from high command. Sending the confirmation codes now. You are to retrieve a VP and escort him to human space." The voice said.

"Confirmation on those codes Sanders?" Watt said.

"There good sir." Sanders said.

"All right. We'll escort him." Harper said. "Watt get Valarie to set up a security team to pick him up." Watt nodded and went to find Trish Valarie, the top security officer of _The Ultima._


End file.
